Issues and Insights
This page provides links to recent articles, reports and announcements relating to transportation policy, legislation and research. The entries are drawn from a wide range of sources, including national newspapers, magazines and websites. If you come across interesting transportation reading that might deserve posting here, let us know at [email protected]
Amsterdam preparing to lower speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour
NL Times, 10/2/23 - Amsterdam is preparing to lower its speed limits to 30 kilometers per hour (18.6 mph). The city will install almost 5,000 new speed signs, adjust 170 traffic lights, and take other “infrastructural measures.” It is also launching a campaign with the slogan: “We drive 30 for each other.”
Secrets of the World’s Coolest Bike Tunnel
Bloomberg Citylab, 9/21/23 - Norway’s Fyllingsdalen tunnel is a showstopping piece of urban cycling infrastructure — for a city where car-centric development still dominates.
A statewide grant offered free e-bikes. Rural communities are taking advantage.
Rocky Mountain PBS, 9/20/23 - Morgan County, in rural Northeast Colorado, will give 30 free e-bikes to low-income Morgan Community College students and low-income essential workers. The state’s energy office grant provided $78,500 for the project, with the city and college contributing $26,240 for bikes, safety accessories and training videos.
New York City’s Battle Against Congestion Begins at the Curb
Bloomberg.com, 9/5/23 - On a recent Monday afternoon on New York City’s Upper West Side, space at the curb was in high demand. An Amazon van idled in the middle of Columbus Avenue as its driver dashed to a nearby building to deliver boxes. Riders of cabs and Ubers scrambled to skirt a restaurant’s outdoor dining shed and avoid the cyclists flowing past down the bike lane.
Is America's quest for high-speed trains finally picking up steam?
TheWeek.com, 9/4/23 - It's been more than fifty years since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the High-Speed Ground Transportation Act into law, lauding the "technological miracles in our transportation" with "one great exception." In spite of "airplanes which fly three times faster than sound," America remained stuck with "the same tired and inadequate mass transportation" of decades past. Five years later, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation assumed control of the bulk of America's commercial rail travel, operating under the name for which it is now known best: Amtrak.
The 5 higher-speed rail projects taking shape in the U.S.
The Washington Post, 8/30/23 - It’s no secret the United States lags behind other developed nations in high-speed rail. More than 20 countries, mostly in Europe and Asia, have such railways, while the U.S. has yet to build its first. Here are five U.S. projects that have boosted prospects for a high-speed rail system.
More private companies are investing in passenger rail — here’s why
Marketplace, 8/28/23 - A new passenger rail service was supposed to open in Florida this upcoming weekend, taking passengers from Miami to Orlando as an extension of a rail line operated by a private company called Brightline —not Amtrak, which runs pretty much every other passenger train in this country. Brightline also plans to build a passenger train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, which it hopes to open in time for the 2028 Olympics in L.A.
Robotaxis Are Making Enemies as They Go Around San Francisco
Bloomberg CityLab + Technology, 8/24/23 - Waymo has about 250 vehicles on San Francisco roads, while Cruise had 400. After a spate of recent incidents, the Department of Motor Vehicles ordered Cruise to cut its active fleet by half — a move supported by Teamsters Union Local 250, representing public-sector drivers. Cruise can now only operate 50 driverless cars during the day and 150 at night.